June Bronhill

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June Bronhill's autobiography cover

June Bronhill, OBE (June 26, 1929 – January 24, 2005) was an internationally acclaimed soprano opera singer.

1 Biography
2 Honour
3 Notes
4 Reference
5 External links

[edit] Biography

She was born June Mary Gough in the inland Australian city of Broken Hill in New South Wales. Her stage name Bronhill, which she used from 1952, was an abbreviation of Broken Hill,^[1] which was her way of thanking her home town for its support in raising money to send her overseas for professional training as a singer. She trained in London and gained early exposure with the Sadler's Wells company in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Her roles in Offenbach's operas, with the Sadler's Wells company, included "Eurydice" in Orpheus in the Underworld and "Gabrielle" in La Vie Parisienne.

She was perhaps best known for title role of "Hanna Glawari" in Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow, which she sang with the Sadler's Wells Opera (now known as English National Opera), with Thomas Round (as "Danilo"). She also created Maria von Trapp in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music on the Australian stage. Bronhill was well known in the London West End theatres as well as on the opera stage.

June Bronhill also recorded Together with Music with Dennis Olsen, with whom she appeared in the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Iolanthe, with June Bronhill (as "Phyllis), and Dennis Olsen (as "the Lord Chancellor"). She also appeared in the Essgee Entertainment production of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera The Pirates of Penzance (as "Ruth"), with Simon Gallaher (as "Frederic") and Jon English (as "the Pirate King").

Despite her prestigious career, she retained a public profile as a person of plain tastes who retained her Australian identity. This was enhanced by appearing as a guest on various television panel shows in her later years. She also played the regular role of brassy shop assistant Mrs Crawford in the Australian version of the TV comedy show Are You Being Served?.

Her career was cut short by the onset of deafness, which became profound. She also suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

She died at 75 on January 24, 2005, in a Sydney nursing home in her sleep. Broken Hill honoured her by declaring a minute's silence during the 2005 Australia Day celebrations on 26 January.

June Bronhill's autobiography, "The Merry Bronhill", was released in Australia in 1987.

[edit] Honour

Bronhill was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1976.

[edit] Notes

^ In the same way that Helen Porter Mitchell chose the stage name of Nellie Melba (after Melbourne), and that Florence Mary Wilson chose the stage name of Florence Austral (after Australia).